Colleen Coble The Lightkeeper's Ball

The Lightkeeper's Ball

Colleen Coble

Thomas Nelson, Apr 19 2011, $14.99

ISBN 9781595542687

In 1910, the Stewart family is one of the upper crust Four Hundred who own New York City High Society. Olivia Stewart rejects the notion of a marriage of social convenience, but knows she needs an excuse to escape the pressure from her family. Her alibi is not what she would have wanted, as her sister Eleanor died in Mercy Falls, California.

Olivia heads to Northern California to investigate the death of her sibling; her only suspect is Eleanor's fianc Harrison Bennett. Accidents begin to hamper her progress starting with nearly drowning in San Francisco Bay; her rescuer is Harrison. As she begins to believe someone is trying to kill her, she changes her mind that Harrison is a killer. He, in turn, has good cause not to trust a Stewart though he is attracted to the sister of his late fianc e at a time when Olivia turns to Harrison to keep her safe.

The third Mercy Falls romantic suspense (see Lightkeeper's Bride and The Lightkeeper's Daughter) is an engaging historical mystery as Olivia wonders whether the man she has fallen in love with killed her sister and wants to murder her too though he did save her life several times. The story line is fast-paced while enabling armchair readers to feel they are in northern California a century ago. Although the killer's motive seems extremely weak, readers will enjoy Colleen Coble's entertaining early twentieth century tale.

Harriet Klausner